


i'll be coming home

by mattzerella_sticks



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Anxious Castiel (Supernatural), Cute Castiel/Dean Winchester, Lakes & Grottos, M/M, Nature, Relief, Reunions, True Love, Wet Castiel (Supernatural), Wet Dean Winchester, Worry, angel grace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-19 06:36:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20326723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mattzerella_sticks/pseuds/mattzerella_sticks
Summary: When it's all over, Castiel just wants to go home. Nothing else matters save that.He races back to where his heart calls him, so he can hang his coat up forever.





	i'll be coming home

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't posted in awhile (since I've been writing for other things that require me to wait before posting lol) and this has been sitting in my folder for months, so I'm posting it!
> 
> Title is from Van Morrison's "Into the Mystic", and I hope you enjoy!

Wind whips inside the cabin from the open window, raking its fingers through Castiel’s hair, mussing it up every which way. The heavier his foot presses against the pedal, the wilder his appearance gets.

His car rockets down the deserted asphalt, a white dart shooting towards its bull’s-eye. Heart straining against his cage-like ribs, Castiel listens as it tells him to swerve right. He drives off the highway and down a more neglected path; littered with bumps and potholes that jostle him every which way. The longer he cruises this channel, the harder it becomes to traverse. Castiel can hear his wheels kicking up gravel, but still doesn’t slow down. His speedometer hovers close to the triple-digits until he sees her.

Baby shines in the dull, filtered light of day. Her sleek, black frame stands out amongst the muted grey of the surrounding area. Castiel parks next to her, halfway out before he even pulls the key from the ignition. His joints protest the sudden movements; stiff from being cooped up for too long, barely any breaks on his journey. He couldn’t stop – only a few miles left until he was done. It’s still not over, not yet.

Castiel’s heart seizes, tugging him over towards a man-made trail. Past the small, brick building abandoned to the weeds. Vines snake their way up its faded walls, shriveled by the season.

A chill pools in the pit of his stomach. He gazes upwards at the sky, wondering. Clouds blanket its expansive blue, the color highlighting the cumulus tufts. Puffy, heavy, and hanging in the sky, they wait for a sign on what to do next. Move on, break and dissipate, commute the rain back into the Earth: the choice is not their own. Nothing comes to spur them towards action. A flock of geese fly underneath, wings skimming the hidden sea on their voyage north. They disappear soon enough.

The pull is unrelenting, and Castiel embarks on the trail ahead. He plods like others before him, carving his own steps into the dirt path. Wooded signs, faded from age are illegible; his eyes too busy scanning the surrounding scenery. A thought floats through his mind, like a browning leaf torn by a soft breeze, that everything would look much prettier at another time. When the verdure was fresh and inviting instead of long robbed as it stands now: spindly, barren branches overlapping each other, as uninviting as barbed wires. Plastic bags tied at points like markers for bored journeyers, disposed of with more care than the other garbage scattered along the edges where gravel meets dry grass. Flowers long withered, their petals trapped in the seeds that have yet to fall. A few dot their stems with brighter colors, easily dismissed in the overwhelming bleakness. It’s a few weeks before their time; preparing for an early start.

An arrow strikes clean through his heart, directing him off the trail and towards the left. Its shaft sticks out from the keyhole of a lock on a rusted metal fence. Castiel strides towards it, hand glowing a striking blue. The chain falls with a clatter as aged hinges screech open. Crows caw nearby, their feathers flapping to denounce a swift exit. Castiel focuses on the electric tingle in his chest, provoking him into the massive thicket.

Cuts heal seconds after they’re made. Fabric stitches and stitches together again. His feet tremble, boots unfit for the cluttered, rocky floor. He nearly trips, catching himself on a fallen log. Grunting, he launches himself even deeper into the woods. His senses shut down, all energy devoted to following the invisible thread that’s strangled his heart for over a decade. These past few days have been its worse, unrelenting in their desire. And because there is no reason to anymore, Castiel does not fight back. Castiel relaxes into the currents, letting them carry him where he needs to go.

His pace quickens, hands clearing the overgrowth away violently. Harried breaths slip past the white noise clogging his ears, carrying with them cracks and snaps of twigs underfoot. Snap. Crack. Snap. Scrape. Wheeze. Crack. Snap.

Crash.

Prickly fencing breaks to reveal an undisturbed pool of water. The pond reflects the sky reflects the pond and so forth. Both perfect mirrors of the other. Its beauty, however, doesn’t capture Castiel’s attention. Rather the figure standing amongst the yellowed reeds won that. No matter the distance, Castiel would recognize his silhouette anywhere.

Time drags itself out, seconds deliriously stretching like dewdrops that refuse to drip. His legs wobble forward a few inches, hand stretched out wide towards the other man. He smiles, the powerful feeling residing in his chest leaking out and flooding his systems. Castiel can’t move, immobilized by Dean’s longing. All he can do for now is watch.

Dean hasn’t noticed him. He stares out into the placid lagoon, shoulders loose. His body heaves with a deep breath, Castiel mirroring the movements.

Then, he starts towards the water. Stunned, Castiel gapes as Dean sinks into the pond. First his feet disappear, then his calves and knees; when his hips dip in Castiel takes control once more. He runs, shouting Dean’s name all the while. His hunter doesn’t hear him, continuing his descent.

Castiel follows, trudging through the water. He disturbs its peace as Dean had, continuing up the ripples that were petering out from his hunter’s wake. His coat fans out behind him, dragging along and slowing him further. He keeps pushing, uncaring to that extra weight. Dean’s shoulders flirt with the water when Castiel catches up. Castiel latches onto them, crying out for Dean in a broken note. Dean stirs, gasp catching in his throat. He holds tight, Dean’s back fitting perfectly against his chest. Their forms rock with the slight waves. Castiel’s lips rest near the shell of his hunter’s ear, where he whispers Dean’s name over and over in reverent prayer.

Turning in his grasp, Dean’s eyes rake over him. Green blooms early this time of year, the fog lifting from his gaze. “You’re wet,” he says.

Castiel nods, shrugging. “So are you.” Castiel chuckles at their absurd exchange. What starts as a low growl booms raucously, echoing into the expanse. It doubles when Dean adds to Castiel’s joy with his own voice. Their laughter dances together, expressing all that needed to be said. Then, when it dries up, nothing left to speak, they kiss. They pour all their love, longing, and wonder into each other; sharing these feelings between themselves. None of them escaping into the wilderness, to be forgotten or misunderstood like so many times before.

His grace leaves him, then, floating upwards on gossamer wings; surveying the spectacle underneath. Dean and Castiel treading water in a warm embrace. It waits a beat before catching a strong breeze elsewhere, its mission complete. Now whole Castiel’s grace searches for a place to rest, the celestial energy retiring from its duties.

Castiel has no need of it any longer. He made it to paradise. Found heaven in the soul of another. Came home one final time, never to wander again.

**Author's Note:**

> What'd y'all think? Let me know!


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